41 child workers rescued from traffickers in Uttar Pradesh

Of these thirty-three children were rescued from a train in Lucknow by the Railway Police and activists of local unit of Childline- functioning under the Central Ministry of Child and Women Welfare. Eight were rescued from Kanpur.

The activists informed top official about the movement of the children, being smuggled to Punjab, to work as labourers.

The police laid a trap to catch the traffickers. Some activists were sent to board the train and asked to spot the suspects.

"I'm going to work in Delhi. My age is 15 years. I was promised a weekly wage of 50 rupees," said Santosh, a rescued child.

The children had been divided into small groups of five to eight, each spread over all the four general coaches.

"We have rescued 33 children and arrested five people here. Eight children have been rescued in Kanpur and two men have been arrested there. The children are from Bihar and Bengal. They were taken to work in biscuit factory, poultry farms etc. We are investigating whether their parents were involved in the trafficking," said A K Jain, Inspector General, Railway Police, Lucknow.

The veracity of the statements of the arrested persons is yet to be established. (ANI)